Windows 10: Is it safe to dual boot Windows 7 and Windows 10?

I remember seeing some stuff about how Windows 10 would wipe all other partitions, so I'm just wondering if that's still a problem. *sarc

And if so, can you select which partition to install on? ( I'd assume definitely so, but.. )

:)

 

is it possible to Dual boot, dual drive Windows 7 & Windows 10

Just reboot to switch between the version of Windows you are currently using and the Windows 10. The concept is the same for the released version of Windows 10 as it is for the Preview builds / versions.

　

How to dual boot Windows 10 Preview with Windows 8.1
http://www.pagestart.com/win81dbwin10tp0112151.html

　

How to uninstall or remove Windows 10 from a Windows 8.1 dual boot computer
http://www.pagestart.com/win81rmovwin100105151.html

　

How to dual boot Windows 7 and Windows 10 Technical Preview
http://www.pagestart.com/win7win10tpdb10121401.html

　

How to uninstall or remove Windows 10 from a Windows 7 dual boot computer
http://www.pagestart.com/win7rmovewin100105151.html

　

How to dual boot Windows 10 Technical Preview with Windows Vista:
http://www.pagestart.com/vistadbwin10tp1218141.html

　

How to dual boot Windows 10 Technical Preview with Windows XP
http://www.pagestart.com/winxpdbwin10tp1206141.html

　

　

:
http://www.pagestart.com

 

is it possible to Dual boot, dual drive Windows 7 & Windows 10

I have a laptop with two hard drives, one has Windows 7 Pro installed with the license key for the machine and on the second drive which the Windows 7 does not know about i want to install Windows 10 using a different license. Is this possible without
the product keys clashing.

 

Sure it's safe - I do it every day, and have been all along. When you run the Win10 installer, simply select 'Custom Install', and you can choose what partition to put it on.

 

Yep, I've been dual booting for quite a while now with no issues.

 

You need to turn off Fast/Hybrid startup though to avoid filesystem corruption.

 

I have Win 10 and Win 7 installed on two separate hard drives and I tried and failed to dual boot then about 4 times. I even tried to use easybcd and failed.

 

I have Win 7 and Win 10 installed on two different SSD's and it works perfect. I always disconnect the other drives before installing any OS as in the past this caused a problem. Since I have disconnected the other drives prior to installing Win 10, it has worked perfect.

 

Follow the steps in this tutorial and you'll be good-to-go.

Windows 10 - Dual Boot with Windows 7 or Windows 8 - Windows 10 Forums

Read through the tut and ask questions before beginning, it's easier to answer a question than correct a misstep.

There have been some issues with some drives on some machines on some releases, but generally those are isolated cases. I had one back in rls 041 (or 049). It did NOT wipe my other volumes, but the System Reserve partition got fubar'd. It wasn't difficult to fix though.

Please post a screen shot of Disk Management so members can provide advice specific to your machine.
See: How to Post a Screenshot of Disk Management

 

I did follow the instructions but I did not see what to do after this:

My Windows 7 Disk does not have a 350 Mb space before win t starts





My Win 10 does have one.

I had Windows 7 disconnected when I installed Windows 10 but I do not use SSD's.

 

Thanks Gary,

Let's try it this way. How do you want to install Win10
upgrade your win7
replace your win7
dual boot with win7

If you're going to replace win7, backup your data and the launch an elevated Command prompt
enter the following commands (*** are comments not part of the command set)
diskpart
lis vol
sel vol 1
*** this should be your Win7 volume - the label helps identify it.
*** if the Win7 volume is a different number - select that number
lis dis
*** the disk with Win7 on it should be the selected disk (there's an asterisk on the left of the selected object)
***
*** if you are certain that you have the correct disk selected - be very certain! - issue the next command to wipe the disk
clean
exit *** exit diskpart
exit *** exit cmd
Now install Win10 (custom) onto the unallocated space from external media (USB or DVD)
Don't format the disk - let Windows do all the work.
If you want to multi-boot I suggest that you change the disk schema first. I'm not sure that it is required, but you've had some difficulties and it might be that your active partition is also your Win7 Boot partition.

Minitool Partition Wizard makes this relatively easy.
Free download Magic Partition Manager Software, partition magic alternative, free partition magic, partition magic Windows 7 and server partition software - Partition Wizard Online

Download the Free Edition (top of the list)
-- or --
Partition Wizard Bootable CD Free Edition (2nd from the bottom)

I tend to use the bootable CD when working on System disks - just so the OS doesn't argue or complain.

One you have PW ready, I'd like to see a full Disk Managment screen shot before offering other advice.
The process will go something like this
1) shrink C: by 450 MB
2) slide C: to the right so that there is 450 MB free on the left
3) setup the System Reserve volume - I'll need to revisit the specs or look at my system for reference
4) set the new System Reserve as the active partition
5) Run Win7 Startup Repair move the necessary files form C: to System Reserve.

Don't try this at home *Wink

Let me know how you want to install Win10, post the full disk management screen shot, and get PW ready.
I'll collect some other information that will help (there's a tutorial on SevenForums that describes moving the active partition from C: or to C: )

This is a bit of work, but it's not too difficult. Most of it is preparation and information gathering. The actual process might take less than 30 minutes.

Then once the disk schema look right to me, you can shrink C; some more (30 GB is enough to test Win10) and install Win10 to that unallocated space.

The key in both scenarios is unallocated space.

 

Thanks slarty but at this point I really do not want to re install Windows 10. The last time I shrunk my Windows 7 disk it took a couple of hours. My wife is leaving for Arizona in the morning so I will be tied up with that. I think the problem is that I do not have the open space before the Win 7 install as you said. I also have move windows 7 back and forth to several drives using MR. I don't know if that is a problem but it could be. Thanks Again for your help.

 

You're welcome Gary,

I understand ... it's frustrating to try these things over and over without success.

Once you get a good disk schema (not that your is bad for Win7) you won't have to muck with it anymore, except to make a new image that reflects the new schema.

Could you feed MS your experience - since you don't have Win10 installed, use the Insider forum. I'm sure that you're not the only person to have the System information on the Boot partition. If that is the problem ...

I helped two members work around an issue by growing the System Reserve part - so it sounds as though it might help your install too. I also read a post by where the install created a new 450 MB partition to the right of the Boot part - but that had to be a GPT initialized disk. So I think MS is trying to figure these things out.

There really isn't a requirement for the System part to be to the left of Boot, it's just 'safer'. The first active part is the one that gets used, so it's common to make the part 1 the active part.

MR = Macrium Reflect?

I'll keep this thread subscribed in case you decide later to give it one more shot.

Bill
.

 

I have Win 10 installed build 10130 , but I don't have it connected right now. I think that dual booting would work better for me if I just did a clean install with both disks connected. Yes MR=Macrium Reflect.*Smile

 

That makes it really easy then - a bit different work and a bit of experimentation.

Here are some things to chew on. If I'm too shorthanded - ask me to clarify. These are just notes to consider.

Backup your Win7 BCD

If you can wipe the 2nd HDD - use diskpart to clean (not clean all) the 2nd HDD
if not - stop reading here *Wink

use diskpart to set the Win7 part inactive

Boot to the Win10 install media

Install Win10 (custom) to the unallocted (or RAW) 2nd HDD

This will create the disk schema ... will it a 450 MB System part - I'm not sure, it might only create a 100 MB System part.
As long as the HDD is unallocated when you begin the install, the System part will be created.

Now you have two HDDs, each with a Windows installation. Both have a means to boot, but the Win7 drive has been 'turned off' and the Win10 HDD doesn't know about the Win7 install (it might pick it up, but I don't think it does).

You can use Disk Management to make the Win7 the active part, but you still won't have a dual boot. And ... and the xxx MB system part is on the other HDD. This is just a way to boot to Win7 until I (or some other member) help with writing the Win7 boot information to the Win10 BCD.

Here's where I need to find the method to incorporate your Win7 install into the Win10 BCD. There are a few ways, but I always have to refresh my memory.

EasyBCD might be the best, there's also VisualBCD, but I've never used that. Native BCDedit would do it too.

Thinking out loud while you take care of the things you need to do at home.